As international heartthrobs go, Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna may be Mexico’s finest exports.
So imagine a gal’s glee when given the chance to interview the pair — in person!
Then imagine the gal’s dismay when the publicist e-mails to say that Bernal is “feeling under the weather” and can’t make the interview.
Tragic.
While RedEye wasn’t able to personally witness the Luna-Bernal magic that first hit movie screens in 2001’s “Y Tu Mama Tambien,” it’s on full display in their new movie, “Rudo y Cursi.” It’s their first film together since the coming-of-age flick launched the pair into the global spotlight.
In “Rudo y Cursi,” which opens Friday, Luna and Bernal play brothers nicknamed, respectively, “Rudo” (tough) and “Cursi” (corny). They’re living on a banana plantation in rural Mexico when a talent scout, impressed with their soccer skills, offers to recruit one of the brothers to play professionally in Mexico City.
They let a penalty kick decide who goes, and Cursi wins — much to the ire of Rudo, who dreams of becoming a soccer player. Cursi, on the other hand, dreams of being a singer. Bernal performs a Spanish-language version of Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want Me” in a pink-and-blue spangled outfit and cowboy hat.
The movie, written and directed by Carlos Cuaron, who also wrote “Y Tu Mama Tambien,” is about the bonds of brotherhood and the pitfalls of sudden fame and fortune.
As Luna and Cuaron devoured a late lunch on a recent Friday, Luna said that the movie doesn’t reflect his relationship with Bernal, his best friend since childhood.
“Really, there’s no competition [between us] at all,” he said. “First of all, we are friends, not brothers. So we choose to see each other.”
Luna, 29, and Bernal, 30, have followed similar paths in the eight years since “Y Tu.” Both now have infant sons (born within months of each other); both have directed their own movies (which were released at the same time); and both have starred in Oscar-winning films (Bernal in “Babel” and Luna in “Milk”). They also jointly founded a production company, Canana, that focuses on Mexican- and Latin American-themed films.
Luna said he could tell that they’d matured when they reunited for the new film.
“I like putting it this way,” Luna said. “In ‘Y Tu Mama Tambien,’ we were not in control of what we were doing … Alfonso [Cuaron, the director and Carlos’ brother] had to push us many times back into track because we would get out of track easily. And this time, we were much more in control.”
Cuaron said Bernal and Luna complement each other as actors. Bernal, who went to theater school in London, is more technical, while Luna, acting since he was a toddler, is more instinctual.
“They have this weird chemistry that saves you thousands of years of rehearsals,” Cuaron said.
And who’s the better soccer player?
“None of them,” Cuaron said. “They are both bad.”
Luna said Cuaron doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
“I’m glad Carlos is not in control of the national team of Mexico, because otherwise we wouldn’t be able to reach the World Cup,” he said. “This guy doesn’t know how to see futbol. Everything he calls a mistake is what others call talent.”
While their characters struggle with the inflated egos and recklessness that can come with sudden fame, Luna said he and Bernal have found success slowly enough to feel grounded.
“Because you’ve gotten so many no’s, you’ve hit so many walls … once success comes, you know you worked for it,” Luna said. “It’s been a long run, and it hasn’t been great all the time. And it can always go wrong again and we know that.”
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aelejalderuiz@tribune.com
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Just for kicks
To prepare for his role in “Rudo y Cursi,” Diego Luna trained with pro soccer players. The experience changed the die-hard soccer fan’s perception of the sport. “They care about other stuff when they’re playing,” Luna said. “You find many players who say, ‘I play against the fans, I hate the fans,’ and things like that. And you don’t even imagine that when you’re watching.” A.E.R.
